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Episode 983 (24th June 1970)
Plot Cyril can't find Keith Lucas but goes searching for him again. The Ogdens decide to butter up Dave Smith as they think he'll solve their financial problems if he becomes their son-in-law. They decide to invite him to tea. Cyril asks Dave to put out feelers for him. Dave finds out from a contact, Vince Fisher, that Lucas was seen in Walker Street earlier that morning. Cyril goes after him. Betty grows frantic when he's missing for several hours but he returns unharmed but again unsuccessful. Irma and Dave realise what Stan and Hilda are up to. Irma tells Bet she can't stand the thought of being married to Dave but that it'll be fun to kid her parents along. Cyril is on his night beat when Lucas confronts him with a lead pipe. A fight breaks out but Len appears and stops Cyril while he is in the act of beating Lucas up badly. Cast Regular cast *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache *Betty Turpin - Betty Driver *Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth *Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid *Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough *Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander *Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe *Cyril Turpin - William Moore *Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear Guest cast *Dave Smith - Reginald Marsh *Keith Lucas - David Webb *Vince Fisher - Freddie Lees Places *Rovers Return Inn - Public *13 Coronation Street - Back room, kitchen and hallway *14 Coronation Street - Living room and kitchen *Corner Shop and back room *Unknown ginnel and yard Notes *The episode featured the final appearance of Arthur Leslie as Jack Walker who died unexpectedly on 30th June 1970, six days after broadcast. *This was the first new episode of the programme broadcast since 25th May 1970 due to a technician's strike at Granada Television which stopped production and broadcasting at the station for one month. The strike began at 7.00am on 26th May as 324 technicians in ACTT (Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians) walked out in support of a 12% pay rise, partly for working in colour, a side of the dispute that would escalate into the ITV Colour Strike on 13th November. The strike only affected Granada, the rest of the ITV network carried on as usual but without any Granada programmes, including Coronation Street. However viewers in the Granada area were denied access on ITV to two important events in 1970: the World Cup and the British General Election, both of which took place during the strike period, and Granada themselves suffered £270,000 in lost revenue. The dispute was called off on Saturday 20th June but it took until Monday 22nd June for the service to viewers to be resumed, which it did at 2.35pm. The decision was also taken not to proceed that evening with this episode of Coronation Street but instead to repeat the previous one to the entire country as it was felt that audiences would have forgotten the events that had taken place. *Tommy Mann was credited as a Stuntman on this episode for the fight between Cyril Turpin and Keith Lucas which was filmed on location in a night shoot. *''TV Times'' synopsis: Irma is caught up in a marriage plot - and Cyril finds himself in a not so tender trap. *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,900,000 homes (1st place). Notable dialogue Dave Smith: "Oh, I see, in one of our tetchy, septuagenarian moods today, are we, Albert?" Episode 0983